Current Residence: Springfield.
Family: Spouse, Lisa; children, Abby, Adam, Andrew, Anthony and Daniel; and seven grandchildren.
Career after the military: Worked for Meadow Gold Dairy, Fisher Beverage, Hometown Potato Chips and Mike Sells Potato Chip Co. Currently working for Veterans Services transporting veterans to V.A. Medical Center.
Hobbies: Reading, snow skiing and lawn care.
Branch of Service: United States Air Force.
Did you join the military or were you drafted? Enlisted.
Deployments/Bases: Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Aviano Air Base, Italy; and Grand Forks, N.D.
Years of serve: November 1970 through April 1974
Total time that you served? Three years and five months
What did you do in the service? Worked in Special Services, maintained ball fields, tennis courts, gymnasiums, officiated and helped with morale of troops.
What did you gain from serving in the military? An appreciation for my fellow man, good work ethic and gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S.
What do you remember most about your service? The opportunity to see different parts of the world and meet new people. And watching the Air Force Thunderbirds practice at Nellis Air Force Base.
What would you like readers to know about your military experience? It’s a great way to learn discipline and respect, and find out what you’re made of and understand different cultures.
Hometown Heroes is a weekly feature profiling Clark and Champaign County veterans compiled with the assistance of local Vietnam veteran Randy Ark. To nominate a veteran, e-mail samantha.sommer@coxinc.com or randyark48@gmail.com or call 937-328-0363. Any veteran of any military branch, years of service and age is eligible to be profiled.
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